Don't Let Me Fall
by De Fideli
Summary: "They say what goes up must come down, but don't let me fall." Finchel, post-Silly Love Songs.
1. Well It Was Just A Dream

She was going to be okay.

She didn't know the exact moment she decided it. It could've been when she realized that Finn probably wasn't going to come back to her anytime soon. After all, he and Quinn had officially become a couple a few weeks ago. She saw them strolling hand-in-hand down the hallway as the crowd parted like the Red Sea. Or it could've been when she realized she had two amazing friends in Kurt and Noah. Yes, Noah. He had found her crying in the parking lot one day and just handed her a pack of Kleenex and sat with her for what seemed like an hour, but was actually just 10 minutes.

She would never truly give up on them, but she realized that maybe she shouldn't stop making the rest of her life wait.

* * *

He was kind of miserable without her. He always saw her out of the corner of his eye, often staring in his direction, and he wishes he could stare back. He knew, though, that he couldn't because then he'd start feeling things again.

He dated Quinn after she and Sam broke up. He figured that it was the best thing to do for his reputation. After all, when he dated her, everything was right in his world. He was high-fived by everyone down the hallway. He was invited to the best parties. He got to do fun things that egg people. Except, now he knows that one of those people was Rachel. And that she was a vegan.

Quinn was really pretty, and hot, but she always kept to herself. It wasn't unusual to him, because he remembered that's what she was like the first time around. He told himself that he just had to get used to it again, then he'd appreciate it like he used to. Quinn was a great girlfriend, minus the whole babygate thing, of course. She never made them watch long musicals as a learning experience. She didn't pay attention to his grades. She didn't plan out dates two months in advanced. She left him alone for the most part, and he thought personal space was great.

Well, except it left him to think about Rachel most of the time.

* * *

"Berry!" A voice called from behind her as she walked out to the parking lot after Glee practice. Rachel turned around to see Puck jogging to her, his backpack slung over one shoulder.

"Yes, Noah?" she asked, waiting for him to catch up. She at least knew he wasn't going to steal something from her. After countless interactions between the two, she had developed a basic sense of trust.

"Can you give me a ride? I have work in like, 10 minutes and my ass is going to be toast if I'm late," Noah asked, grinning.

Rachel looked at the time, and figured she didn't really have anything to do for the next 2 hours anyway. Her dance lessons were moved up to eight o'clock everyday, so she knew she had time. "Sure, as long as it doesn't hurt your pride to ride in my car."

Puck remembered how Rachel drove around a pink Volkswagen Beetle, but he just shrugged. "Enough pride to last me a lifetime, Berry."

She giggled, and gestured him to follow her out to her car. He got in the cramped space, slightly uncomfortable with the lack of leg room. The air freshener was a vanilla scent, and Puck could feel himself getting nauseous, so he rolled down the window to let some fresh air in. "Are you alright?" Rachel asked, as she started up the car. Puck merely nodded. "So, whose houses are you pool cleaning today?"

Puck raised his eyebrow at her question. "Berry, for a smart person, you can be pretty dumb sometimes." There was a long pause and Puck realized she still didn't get it. "It's freezing outside, do you really think I'd be pool cleaning in the winter?"

Rachel mentally slapped herself for the dumb moment. "Sorry, I didn't know you took on a second occupation in the winter. Where am I taking you, then?"

Puck grinned at Rachel's apology. "S'cool. Go on Main Street, and I'll tell you when to stop," Puck said, as Rachel navigated her way through the streets of Lima. She reached the downtown area of Lima, with business lined up one after another. Rachel figured she was taking Puck to some sort of restaurant or body shop or something. Boy, was she wrong. "Pull up at that white building with the pink windows."

"Are you being serious here, Noah?" Rachel asked incredulously. "You work at Estelle's?" The building was one of the larger windows on Main Street, but was divided into two sections. On the right hand side was the floral part of the store, with several bouquets behind the window. The other side was a bridal shop, with mannequins dressed in elegant wedding dresses displayed.

"Don't judge," Puck said nonchalantly, as Rachel parked the car in front of the store. "Come inside and meet my boss, I have a feeling she'll like you."

Rachel took the key out of the ignition and stepped out of the car, brushed her red sweater dress flat and followed Noah into the floral entrance.

"Noah! Glad you could make it in time," a dark-haired middle-aged woman said at the counter. "Go change in the back room. We have about 3 deliveries for 7 o'clock." She noticed Rachel behind Puck, and greeted her with a warm smile! "Hi! You're Rachel Berry, aren't you?"

Rachel nodded, smiling back. "Yes ma'am. You must be Estelle. You have a gorgeous store. I didn't know Noah worked here."

"Yes, he's my delivery boy in the winter. I'm good friends with his mother, and I thought it would be good for him to get a job here to stay out of trouble," she explained. "I see you at the temple sometimes. I went to high school with your dads, actually."

Puck emerged out of the back room wearing a hot pink polo with "Estelle's Floral & Bridal" embroidered on the left side of his chest. "Yep, Berry, I know this is a shock. Just take a moment to soak it in."

"He doesn't get the whole concept of love and dating and marriage or anything, but I guess he's better than the delivery boy I used to have who was allergic to almost everything in here," Estelle commented jokingly. "Noah, a new shipment just came in, and I'm going to need help putting the arrangements together. I have diagrams so you won't mess them up too much this time." She pulled out a packet of papers from under the counter and handed them to Noah.

"Berry can help me," Puck suggested, and Rachel blushed.

Estelle nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. She can pick up your slack."

"Follow me, Berry," he said, and he led her into a large, cold room in the back. The center table was filled with different types of flowers, and there were empty vases on a side table. "Estelle likes making her own arrangements. Except sometimes she's busy with bridal appointments so she has me make them sometimes. I kind of suck at it, though."

Rachel laughed heartily. "I'll help you out then."

Before they knew it, they were snipping away on the flowers, laughing with each other and throwing the discarded petals at each other. An hour had gone by, and Estelle walked back in and smiled at the cooperation of the two. "How's everything going here?" Rachel blushed brightly and froze in place. They had finished a good 15 arrangements, 10 more than what was on the list.

"I, uh, I actually made some of my own out of what was left," Rachel stammered. "Noah said it would be fine, I figured they would've been thrown out anyway."

Estelle looked through the arrangements that Rachel had put together. "These are very impressive, Rachel. Great cuts, neat, good color coordination. Do you mind if we put these up for sale?" she asked the beet red Rachel.

"R-really? That would be absolutely amazing!" Rachel gushed, and Puck let out a chuckle. He knew Rachel and Estelle would get along extremely well.

"Tell you what, Rachel, how would you like a job here?" Estelle asked casually. Rachel's jaw dropped, and there was a long pause. "I won't need you everyday, but you can help me arrange every time a new shipment comes in. Plus, you can make sure that Noah shows up here on time."

Rachel jumped out of her chair in happiness, and hugged the short woman. "Thank you, so much!" She went on to hug Puck in excitement, and he laughed.

"Easy there, Berry. First job?" he asked, hugging her back. She blushed again, but nodded rapidly. She never felt the need to get a job before, but she liked the idea of having something in her life that wasn't related to her future career, or something mandatory like having to face the torment of high school.

This was a fresh start for Rachel.


	2. Just a Moment Ago

The next week flew by for Rachel, having set her focus on her grades and on Glee club. She had come up with some ideas for her set list, but she wasn't ready to share them yet, building up her shell for a while to take on the insults whenever she would suggest a solo for herself.

She found strength in having Puck as her best friend. From him, she learned about confidence and about how not to take anybody's crap. Of course, he picked up a few lessons from Rachel himself, like anger management and showing up to class.

She went to work with Noah around 3 times a week for about an hour, sketching ideas for arrangements with Estelle. She found it as a breath of fresh air from her usual work in Glee.

* * *

Finn felt a dark storm cloud coming overhead. It was almost Quinn's birthday, and he had no idea what to get her. He knew that what he got her would be talked about all around school, and it would be the perfect time to raise his reputation in the school. It would definitely make people take his relationship seriously after it had crumbled to pieces last year.

He pulled up into the first floral shop he could find downtown, and took a deep breath. Stepping out of his silver Honda Accord, he felt like a boy lost in the woods. He walked into the store hesitantly, only to see a very familiar face at the counter.

"Welcome to Estelle's," Rachel said, not looking up. When she finally did, she fell silent, her eyes growing wide. "Oh, hi, Finn."

His jaw dropped, and suddenly he felt even more queasy. "Rachel? I, I didn't know you worked here, I swear. I didn't even know you had a job. Did you ever tell me that?" he blurted out.

She laughed, which surprised Finn even more. Usually, she would be offended or correct something he said, but she actually laughed. Who was this? "I started a week ago. Noah actually worked here first," she explained.

Finn's face fell once more. "Oh. That's cool," he said, looking down at his shoes. It was still like rubbing salt in the wound everytime there was some connection made between Rachel and Puck. Of course, he told himself that he had moved on to greener pastures, but it still bothered him to see her actually moving on.

"So, can I help you anything?" Rachel asked, breaking the small pause that occurred. Right when Finn was about to answer, Puck popped out of the back room.

"Sup Finnegan," he said, strolling in with his pink t-shirt on.

"Hey man," Finn smiled weakly, nodding at him. "Never pictured you as a hot pink kind of guy."

"Rules are rules," Puck shrugged. He seemed to be taking all the manly jokes well, Rachel had observed. She didn't want to prematurely say that Puck was actually becoming, well, mature. "Whatcha here for?"

Finn shifted uncomfortably, knowing that it was just his luck that he had to discuss it with the two people he didn't want to. He started to speak up, when Puck cut him off once again.

"Wait, I know, it's Quinn's birthday this Wednesday," Puck said, which resulted in a surprised Finn and Rachel. "What?"

"You didn't strike me as a guy who remembered people's birthdays. That's all, Noah," Rachel replied, in which Noah just shrugged.

Finn agreed with Rachel. In fact, he was most surprised with the fact that he actually remembered a girl's birthday, who was not his mom. "So yeah, I need to get her some flowers," he said unsurely.

Puck watched Rachel as she listened to Finn, making sure that she wasn't about to cry again. She seemed to be holding up just fine, and he was impressed. He didn't know how far Rachel had come until now. He had to admit, he admired the fact that she looked like she wasn't hurt at all. He knew she was. If anything, Puck was the best lie detector around, despite the fact that he was a shitty liar.

"Okay," Rachel replied, putting on a smile. "You can take a look around and look for an arrangement and tell me if you see something you like."

Finn nodded, and started to take a walk around the store. Once his back was turned, Puck gave Rachel the look as if he was asking she was okay, and she returned with a quick nod.

Finn turned back around, feeling hopeless. "Umm… I really don't know what to pick," he said, staring blankly at the two.

"Orchids, Hudson," Puck replied flatly. "Her favorites are orchids." The response shocked Finn and Rachel even more. It never came across their mind that Puck had even cared about Quinn, but maybe they were wrong. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy, I figured you at least knew what her favorite flowers are."

Finn's jaw dropped once more, as he started to stammer. "I, I didn't know that, s-she never told me," he said. "But I guess I'll take those then."

Rachel, trying to break the awkward tension, tried to display some form of excitement. "I actually sketched out the perfect arrangement in class today! I think it's my best so far," she said enthusiastically, and pulled out a pink sketchbook from underneath the counter. She flipped open to the page where her sketch was. It was a gorgeous combination of pink orchids, ivory lilies and pink roses.

Finn's eyes grew wide. "That's…" he started to say, then looked up at Rachel. "Beautiful." She blushed deeply when he looked at her, and started looking everywhere else around the room.

"So yeah, you're going to need a message with the flowers, and I can type that up for you real quick here," she said, opening up a program.

"Uhh, happy birthday?" Finn suggested, quite unsurely.

Rachel shook her head. "No, definitely not. You need something bolder than that," she argued. Then she realized this would be her chance to try to make it seem like she was a new Rachel Berry, one who was happy for her friends. Even the one that she was still in love with. "I got it. How about this? Happy birthday, to the most beautiful girl in the world. Love, Finn."

Finn felt a lump rise in his throat. He wanted to tell her that he didn't want to lie to Quinn, because he knew that Rachel was the most beautiful girl in the world by miles. But he couldn't, because he didn't want to wreck what progress he had already made. "Um, yeah. That sounds good," he managed to say.

Rachel smiled weekly. "That's going to be $30," she said. "You can pick it up on Wednesday either before school, at lunch or afterschool. I won't be here then, of course, but I'll tell Estelle that you're coming back."

"Oh, alright," he said. He pulled out a $20 bill and a $10 from his wallet, and handed it to Rachel, who traded it with a receipt. "Thanks."

She nodded, and then watched Finn walk out of the door with his hands in his pockets. When he left the store, she felt the thickness of tension dissipate, and she looked at Puck as they headed to the back room.

"You alright there, Berry?" he asked. Tears suddenly welled up in her eyes, and she shook her head, as Puck walked over to give her a hug. She buried her face on his firm chest, and started sobbing lightly. "I gotta admit, I'm pretty impressed at how you stuck through the whole thing."

She lifted her face off of his chest and smiled weakly at her best friend. "I d-didn't know how m-much you cared about Quinn," she replied threw small sobs.

"I don't," Puck said dryly. When Rachel was about to open her mouth to protest, he raised up a hand. "Look, just because I remember every little thing she said, doesn't mean I'm in love with her. I'm not. I wasn't good enough for her anyway."

Rachel let out a laugh. "So in other words, you did care about her," she smiled.

"Why does it matter if I did, anyway?" Puck shrugged. "I guess we just have to watch them crash and burn, Berry. And maybe hope they're not too damaged afterwards."

Rachel's eyes widened at Puck's insightful statement. "Wow, that was… very meaningful, Noah," she said, and paused for a few seconds. "I just wish that he misses me, even just a little bit."

"You never know, Berry," he replied. "C'mon, let's close up."


	3. I Was Up So High Looking Down at the Sky

Finn walked into the halls of McKinley High School on Quinn's birthday, holding the orchid bouquet in his hand. The note was lodged in between the string and the wrapper, and he stared at it for a while before he realized that he probably should be paying attention to where exactly he was walking. He felt extremely hesitant about giving the note to Quinn, mainly because it hurt like hell to listen to Rachel say those words and actually type them up. He found Quinn at her locker, and smiled his lopsided smile, taking a deep breath and hiding the flowers behind his back.

"Oh, hey Finn," she greeted him with a slight hint of warmness, which was the regular amount for the ice queen. Her smile grew slightly when she saw that he was holding something behind his back. "Whatcha got there?"

He pulled out the orchid bouquet from behind him, and her face lit up. "Happy birthday, Quinn." He heard some 'awww's in the background, and mentally high-fived himself.

"Oh my gosh, how did you know these are my favorite?" she asked, taking the bouquet from him and delicately running her fingers through the petals. "The only…" she trailed off, realizing what she was about to say. Puck had been the only guy she had told about orchids being her favorite flower.

"_Puck, there is no chance in hell that I'm marrying you, ever," she said, getting frustrated at the smug look on his face. "Even if it was in a huge, beautiful church with an aisle covered in orchid petals."_

_Puck shrugged. "At the end of the day, Fabray, you'll figure out that I'm the closest thing you have to a fairytale wedding."_

"Anyway, I gotta go," Quinn said, returning back to reality after realizing she had been caught in a flashback. "See you at Glee." She tiptoed and kissed him on the cheek and turned around, bouquet in hand.

Finn looked down on his closed fist that he had kept behind his back the whole time, opening it up to reveal the pink crumpled note that was attached.

Rachel spotted Quinn down the hallway with the bouquet in hand. She felt her heart break a small amount, but she smiled at the fact that at least Quinn got a happy ending. Maybe she deserved it after one hectic year.

She took her books out of her locker and started to head over to her chemistry class, but met the pathway of Quinn, who was back to her invulnerable queen bee mode and didn't care to stop walking. "Move it, manhands," she said, shoving her with her free arm to the side. Rachel's books fell to the ground as she tried to stop her collision from her locker with the arm that carried her books.

"Hey jewnose!" A deep voice said. She didn't want to turn around, although she knew it was inevitable what was going to come. She stood still exactly where she was, and waited for it. She felt the ice cold liquid collide onto her back and on her hair, and she just let out a sigh as the culprit walked away laughing. She didn't even know who it was, but she didn't really care to find out. Usually it was someone who had never even talked to her for once in her life anyway. She bent down to pick up her things as the bell rang and the students avoided her to get to their classes.

"Here, lemme help," a familiar voice said, as a pair of large pasty hands picked up her things. She looked up to see the face of Finn Hudson, who was smiling sympathetically. "You okay?"

She felt her heart racing a bit, but tried not to let it get to her ability of partaking in a conversation. "Yeah, it's fine, nothing new," she smiled weakly, holding out her arms to take her stuff from him. He placed them on her arms slowly, as if she would break if he didn't place them there carefully.

"Hmm, complete back attack. Can't say I've seen that one before," he commented, chuckling slightly. She let out a soft laugh, hugging her books. "Thanks for doing the flowers, by the way. They looked really nice, and I think she liked them a lot."

Rachel blushed lightly, not knowing exactly how to respond. She remembered thinking Quinn deserved that happy ending, but after the whole shoving deal, she wasn't sure anymore. "T-that's good, I'm glad everything worked out the way you wanted," she smiled, and turned around to walk back to her locker.

"Not everything," Finn whispered to himself.

Glee practice was in session, and started off with a Happy Birthday serenade to Quinn, as they usually did for every member who had a birthday. Rachel, who was now in a fresh and slushie-free outfit, even managed to sing along.

"That was great guys, happy birthday Quinn," Mr. Schuester said, as everyone returned to their seats. "Alright, guys. I know that Regionals is coming up, but I want this week's assignment to go deeper than just planning the set list. I want you to come up with a song about how music gets you through anything. Feeling invincible. This is the kind of confidence we need for Regionals, and we need to be all about the music, guys. And this time, we're doing it on the auditorium stage just to get used to this."

The group started chatting amongst themselves, and Puck turned around to Rachel. "Any ideas, Berry?" he asked, and she nodded.

"A few, actually," she admitted. "But I don't know which one to choose. I don't really want to put myself out there and talk about how sad my life is without music, you know? When I think about it, outside of Glee, I don't really have friends and I don't do anything but sing, ballet, piano, and some side acting, I guess."

"What about we go to the auditorium and go for a test run?" Puck suggested, feeling sick from looking at Finn with his arm around Quinn. Rachel nodded, and Puck raised his hand to catch Mr. Schuester's attention. "Mr. Schue, auditorium."

Finn caught himself glaring at Puck, wondering what Puck would get her to do in the auditorium. He needed to at least find out if there was something going on with them. As they headed out, he felt his knuckles turn white and a lump rising in his throat. "Mr. Schue? Can I go to the bathroom?" he asked, once he gave Rachel and Puck a sufficient head start. He nodded, as Quinn gave him a quizzical look.

He stood up and started to walk slowly towards the balcony entrance of the auditorium to watch them. They were on stage, except instead of Rachel taking center stage with the microphone stand, she was on the piano. He frowned, never having seen Rachel actually perform with a piano. Puck sat on a stool beside the piano, just playing the role of the spectator.

_It's been the longest winter without you,_  
_ I didn't know where to turn to._  
_ See, somehow I can't forget you,_  
_ After all that we've been through._

_ Going, coming... thought I heard a knock_  
_ Who's there? No one_  
_ Thinking that I deserve it_  
_ Now I realize that I really didn't,_  
_ Nooo_

_ If you didn't notice, boy, you mean everything._  
_ Quickly I'm learning to love again,_  
_ All I know is I'm gon' be okay_

_ Thought I couldn't live without you_  
_ It's gonna hurt when it heals too, ooh yeah_  
_ (It'll all get better in time)_  
_ And even though I really love you,_  
_ I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to_  
_ It'll all get better in time_

_ How could I could I turn on the TV,_  
_ Without something that'll remind me_  
_ Was it all that easy?_  
_ To just put aside your feelings._  
_ If I'm dreaming, don't wanna lie,_  
_ Hurt my feelings_

_ But that's the path_  
_ I believe in,_  
_ And I know that time will heal it_

_ If you didn't notice, well_  
_ You mean everything._  
_ Quickly I'm learning to love again,_  
_ All I know is I'm gon' be okay_

_ Thought I couldn't live without you_  
_ It's gonna hurt when it heals too, ooh yeah_  
_ (It'll all get better in time)_  
_ And even though I really love you,_  
_ I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to, ooooooh_  
_ It'll all get better in time_

_ Since there's no more you and me (no more you and me)_  
_ It's time I let you go so I can be free_  
_ And live my life how it should be._  
_ No matter how hard it is,_  
_ I'll be fine without you, Yes I will._

_ Thought I couldn't live without you_  
_ It's gonna hurt when it heals too ohhhh_  
_ It'll all get better in time ooooh_  
_ And even though I really love you_  
_ I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to (yes I do)_  
_ It'll all get better in time, woah_

_ Thought I couldn't live without you_  
_ It's gonna hurt when it heals too, yeahh_  
_ It'll all get better in time_  
_ And even though I really love you_  
_ I'm gonna smile cause I deserve to_

Finn found himself tearing up from the performance, and made an abrupt exit from the audtiorium.

Puck nodded apprehensively, and waited for Rachel to say something.

"I don't think that's the song," she said simply, and Puck chuckled. Typical perfectionist Rachel Berry.


End file.
